According to the scientific magazine Naturethe World Health Organization (WHO) has “quietly put on hold” the second phase of its investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, citing difficulties in conducting crucial studies in China.
A “long-awaited” investigation by scientists, underlines journalist Smriti Mallapaty, because it is important for understanding how the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus initially infected humans and preventing future pandemics. “Without access to China, the WHO can’t do much to advance the studies,” he told Nature Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada. They really have their hands tied.”
Without access to China, there is little the WHO can do to advance the studies. They really have their hands tied.
From January 14 to February 10, 2021, a joint WHO mission composed of ten international experts (Australia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Sudan, United Kingdom, Vietnam and United States) and 17 Chinese experts had investigated the origins of Covid-19 in China. It had made public in March of the same year a final report of 400 pages after months of negotiations with the Chinese authorities, which had not made it possible to decide in favor of one or the other of the hypotheses on the appearance of the virus, whether it is a passage from a wild animal to a human being, or a less direct route, such as the consumption of contaminated food or the escape of the virus from a laboratory of research.
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“There is no phase two”
The pressing time, the scientists who had taken part in this mission had written one comment on August 25, 2021in the same journal Nature, to call for urgent additional research, such as carrying out antibody analyzes in regions early affected by the virus or surveying communities living around wild animal farms.
The first phase of this 2021 investigation was to lay the groundwork for a second, with more in-depth studies aimed at determining precisely what happened in China and elsewhere. Two years later, the WHO therefore abandoned its plans. “There is no phase two, declares to Nature Maria Van Kerkhove, epidemiologist at the WHO in Geneva. The WHO had planned for the work to be done in phases but that plan has changed.” She adds, “Politics around the world has really hindered progress in understanding the origins of the disease.”
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In its March 2021 report, the team of scientists concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” that the virus had accidentally escaped from a lab. “But the inclusion of the lab incident scenario in the final report was a key point of contention for researchers and Chinese officials,” says Dominic Dwyer, a virologist with the New South Wales Health Pathology Service. in Sydney, who was a member of the WHO team, and interviewed by the journalist from Nature.
The scientific magazine also recalls in its article that “the Chinese authorities rejected the plans of the WHO, opposing in particular the proposal to investigate the shortcomings of the laboratories”. Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said the WHO proposal had not been endorsed by all member states and that the second phase should not focus on the pathways that the report of mission had already deemed extremely unlikely.
A “poorly managed” investigation
Interviewed in Nature, Gerald Keusch, associate director of the National Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases at Boston University in the United States, believes that the origins investigation has been “mishandled by the international community. It was mismanaged by China. It was mismanaged by the WHO”. According to him, the WHO should “have worked hard to create a positive working relationship with the Chinese authorities; if she ran into obstacles, she should have been honest about it.”
According to Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has continued to engage directly with Chinese government officials to encourage China to be more open and to share its data. She says WHO staff have also contacted the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing to try to establish collaborations. “We really, really want to be able to work with our colleagues there,” insists the epidemiologist. It’s really a deep frustration.”
The head of the World Health Organization personally pledged on Wednesday to do everything to obtain “an answer” on the origins of Covid-19. “There is a scientific and moral dimension to this problem and we must continue to push until we have the answer” on the origins of the pandemic, said the director general of the WHO, during the press briefing. weekly.
Le magazines Nature said the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to email requests for comment sent by its reporter.
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